Finding just the right toy is child’s play

[attach]3917[/attach]Uh-oh.

Your child has a birthday party for a classmate you barely know and once again you need to find just the right gift.

Is it the plastic gun that your seven-year-old son once received or the scantily clad tween doll for your five-year-old daughter that has you worried about appropriateness?

You want it to be fun, of course, but fun for more than 10 minutes — unlike many of the abandoned presents in your playroom. And if you are truly honest with yourself, you want something that will stand out in the heap of party gifts.

Take heart: the independent toy stores around the Greater Toronto Area feel that pressure every day. It is their business to weed through the thousands of toys on the market and find the ones that children will love to play with again and again.

With years of experience and some reliable young testers, they are experts at finding really great toys.

“We look for toys that have longevity,” says Megan Holtz, manager of Scooter Girl Toys on Roncesvalles Avenue. “The best ones have lots of ways to play with them, and offer hints at the direction of play.”

To illustrate, she describes a Playmobile set with a girl, a horse and accessories. There is a bucket to wash or feed the horse, tools to groom it, a saddle to ride it, kittens who can interact with everyone, a sunflower to garden and a wagon to take everyone for a ride. Best of all, Holtz says, three-, five- and seven-year-olds will all love to play with it, so it lasts for years.

[attach]3918[/attach]Conversely, more and more mainstream toys seem to have only one way to play and appeal to a very specific age group.

“If you can only do one thing with it, like push a button, the subtle message is that there is a right and wrong way to play,” Holtz says.

Even the ever-popular Lego has changed from a multi-play, creative toy to follow-the-instructions assembly. While Holtz stresses that this is still fun and worthwhile, she mourns the days when Lego “had hints of what the blocks could become — like wheels, window frames or doors that you could turn into almost anything”.

“Now it’s a set thing you build one way.”

At Toy Town, on Avenue Road just north of Lawrence Avenue, owner Shari Bricks has been evaluating toys since 1984, when her father opened the store and she was his main tester.

“Play value is the most important thing, and it is what differentiates our store,” Bricks says. “Will the child want to play with it again and again?”

As for flashcards and other “educational” toys, both Bricks and Holtz emphasize that play is a child’s education.

Bricks often recommends games because they encourage social interaction and strategy with lots of fun. Her other top picks?

“A good doll goes a long way. They teach children to be caring and nurturing, which are key to developing social skills.”

At both stores one of the most popular toys remains play food.

“It creates really great role playing,” Bricks says. “And kids of all ages can play together.”

Holtz says larger toy companies are beholden to their shareholders and so creative decisions can become profit- and trend-driven.

“When the licensed character is no longer popular, the toy is forgotten,” Holtz says.

“We don’t want to be snobby about toys, but the really great ones start with an amazing idea and a passion for its design.”

Smaller independent toy stores that buy in small quantities can also stock unique, quirky toys that would be risky for larger chains.

“We can make snap decisions and weird choices,” Holtz says. “If we see something we like we can order six and see how it goes.”

Independent toy store owners must pass the toughest test: would their own kids play with it?

“First and foremost, we are parents,” Holtz says. “We play with our kids and select toys based on personal experience.”

Even after so many years in the business, Bricks can still be surprised.

“I brought home a beginner electronics set for my eight-year-old daughter thinking she would reject it, but we had a great time.”

At Scooter Girl, testing out toys is a team effort between staff, their families and even their customers.

“Everybody at the store has kids in their lives in a significant way, so we get them to try things out. We also get feedback from our customers. We have even brought in toys customers discovered while travelling.”

Most importantly, Holtz says, “we sell toys because we are really into them.

“We stock our shelves with the toys we think are truly great. At the end of the day our customers are our neighbours and we choose things that we think will be great for our neighbours’ children.”